[Redline6800]

It is raining discounts at Tata Motors and here's the latest one, a massive Rs 2.5 Lakh dealer discount on the Tata Aria. We spoke to Tata dealers to learn more and here is what's on offer:

• Rs 2 Lakh discount on Tata Aria vehicles manufactured between July & December 2012 (indicates inventory buildup)

• Rs 2.5 Lakh discount if it is a 2011 model!

• A further Rs 50,000 discount as part of an exchange bonus on the above

• The above offer does not apply to the base Aria Pure LX model

• Rs 50,000 discount on Aria Pure LX vehicles manufactured between July and December 2012, with a further Rs 50,000 exchange bonus

• All Aria variants produced in 2013 get just the Rs 50,000 exchange bonus

• The offers above are subject to dealer availability of stock and the dealers confirmed that deliveries would be completed within 15 to 20 days

Price list without discounts


A 2012 model Tata Aria Pleasure 2-wheel drive which is priced at Rs 13.75 Lakh (ex Bangalore) can be had for Rs 11.25 Lakh after all discounts. The top end Aria Pride 4 wheel drive after discounts will come in at Rs 14.75 Lakh (ex Bangalore).

The Aria has been a disaster for Tata Motors and a cruel blow to their ambitions to take the brand upmarket. The Aria posted the following sales numbers from September 2012 to February 2013; 25, 147, 341, 5, 52 and 4 respectively. That is a total of 574 units. In comparison, during the same period, Mahindra sold 23,919 units of its XUV 500 while Toyota raked in the moolah with 35,446 Innovas sold.

Read the comprehensive Team BHP review on the Tata Aria

[sushantr5]

Heavy Discount on Aria is back, Rs.2,00,000 cash discount plus 50k exchange bonus

[rkg]

Originally Posted by sushantr5

Heavy Discount on Aria is back, Rs.2,00,000 cash discount plus 50k exchange bonus

2 lakh discount is on 2012 stock ( before july 2012). July-dec 2012 discount is 1.5 lakh. 2013 models it is 1 lakh as usual

[safari_lover]

If they were to announce such massive discounts then what was the need to increase prices after the Budget?

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by rkg

2 lakh discount is on 2012 stock ( before july 2012). July-dec 2012 discount is 1.5 lakh. 2013 models it is 1 lakh as usual

Are these discounts on all variants?? Or ONLY the base one (Pure?) ?

[rkg]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Are these discounts on all variants?? Or ONLY the base one (Pure?) ?

The discount of Rs 1 lakh is on all variants and it is in force for more than a year. i think it is applicable for 2013 stock. 2 lakh for 2012 stock

What defies logic is when they are giving 1 lakh discount why they increased the prices after excise hike. It only adds to higher road tax and insurance for customer ( both of them are dependent on ex show room price)

[ACM]

To give 1-2L discount more or less through the year and to yet raise prices at the same time is quite absurd. Though TATA would like the vehicle to be pitched against the Endy and Fortuner and now the Rexton, it isn't and wont be in that segment due to the Brand image as well as the price expectations post XUV launch. Infact now the Rexton is positioned just where the Aria attempted to be and infact a bit higher, so I think they need to revert to plan B and correct the pricing to closer to XUV levels offically - possibly they will do that with the Aria facelist, power boost and AT versions coming on board.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by ACM

possibly they will do that with the Aria facelist, power boost and AT versions coming on board.

May be same way, with all the above mentioned, they may be thinking that people will start buying Aria at the current price, so they could advertise "more for same price". Who is right, time will tell.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

May be same way, with all the above mentioned, they may be thinking that people will start buying Aria at the current price, so they could advertise "more for same price". Who is right, time will tell.

It will actually be quite hard for them. Yep if they do give AT + Extra Power + the few planned look changes + the Hanmer Audio System with Amp that they are planning for and possibly even the bigger alloys and tyres, the fog chrome rings, the roof rails etc, they may actually be correct in pricing the Aria at the current level at the top spec say "Pride + model". BUT that will only make for smaller numbers and they would still need to have the current models with some add on plus the new look coming in at much lower pricing points that closely match the XUV.

Even if they do the above they would have to back this with a lot of creative marketing and repositioning as they have already made things hard for themselves by incorrect pricing initially itself and now to again gain customer mindshare will be a tough ask. Not impossible but half measures will not do.

[Warwithwheels]

Oh boy! That's quite a discount.

Is it like they are cutting down their margin by 2,00,000 or are they selling it at a loss to get rid of the excess inventory?

[M35]

This could very well be a stock clearance exercise. The new Aria should be ready to hit the markets.But the question is how long they will have wait to clear the exisiting stock, considering the number of units sold per each month in the recent past?

[narayan]

Originally Posted by Redline6800

• The above offer does not apply to the base Aria Pure LX model

• All Aria variants produced in 2013 get just the Rs 50,000 exchange bonus

The sales numbers show that the Pure Lx ( Touted as a stiff competition for the "overpriced" Innova ) was another still born child from Tata. Then why not have discounts in that variant also ?

If Tata is sitting on 2011 stocks, what is the logic of not giving discounts on the 2013 stock as well ? Do they want to wait till 2014 and then give a 1 lakh discount ?

Why is Tata in such a denial mode.

The Aria should always have been pitted against the Innova price wise with the top variants maybe nudging above the underspecced Innova top models. What is the point in gunning for XUV territory after all that has happened in the last 2 years.

I am sure we have a lot of Tata lovers in this forum who will come and argue how the Aria is such a superior product and feature to feature, better than the Xuv or the Innova but the market seems to have given it a big thumbs down.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by narayan

If Tata is sitting on 2011 stocks, what is the logic of not giving discounts on the 2013 stock as well ? Do they want to wait till 2014 and then give a 1 lakh discount ?

Why is Tata in such a denial mode.

Because if one were to buy an Aria and find similar discounts for '11, '12 and '13, he will obviously go for the '13 model.

IMO, This is not really a discount, and will help to only pull crowd to the showrooms, as if you bargain hard you might have gotten the same or even more discounts from dealers directly. I remember the T-Jet in a similar scenario.

[Naetik30]

Tata - You want to sell more cars - change your car designers. Fire them all.

I dont think I have ever seen a flatter and bland looking dash on any other car. Even my i10 has a better dash. And Tata - please, please - change the front grill design. Is there any reason Indica, Indigo, Aria - all should look exactly the same from the front. You guys have Jaguar designers on your payroll for heaven's sake. Wake up - please.

[man_and_machine]

Originally Posted by Naetik30

Is there any reason Indica, Indigo, Aria - all should look exactly the same from the front.

Signature design of the facade is not the real problem. All BMWs have the twin grill fan desginer look. Its what behind the the grill the rest of the car that matters. Design themes actually help build the brand. Now that Brand is the issue. Aria can't be sold at sedan prices. It is meant to be a different vehicle, premium in features and premium in positioning. The issue lies purely in the quality and brand. These can't be build in one model. You can't have one best Q car and let the whole range have bad issues.

Aria's position can't be fixed by Aria alone. It has to be over the entire range. That builds the brand. The price cuts help in getting more road sightings for the car, helps in improving the perception on the acceptability of the vehicle. This is however a damage control and not a long term strategy.

The most important thing to do is to be different, when you have a competitor who is strong. Aira and the XUV are live cases. What did the XUV to which Aria failed. Thier spec list is similar, their Q issues is similar, may be their A$$ is also not very different.

XUV did 2 things different, first they did not compete in the "Innova" like market, second they corrected their offer price before launch not after it.

But I see the price correction in the Aria as a welcome step. But this should have been in the form of price correction rather than discount. When you offer a discount you already send the message that you are "pushing" a non mover.

However, you need to push these discounts long enough to put more cars on the road, change the perception and then play the premium game once you have entered the club.

I would say the Aira should have a separate line of A$$ unit exclusively to give it attention and this should be marketed well.